Mumbai: Tata Steel Ltd’s consolidated first quarter net profit more than doubled to ₹ 1,934 crore from ₹ 921 crore in the corresponding period of last year. The growth in earnings was backed by burgeoning sales growth in the automotive and industrial sectors, and better operational efficiencies.

India’s largest private-sector steel producer also witnessed an year-on-year (YoY) increase of 13.8% in revenues to ₹ 16,405 crore, while EBITDA for the quarter jumped by 75.2% to ₹ 5,118 crore.

“The performance in this quarter has been very strong and Tata Steel India delivered a stand out performance of 31% EBITDA margin on the back of strong underlying business performance and improved market conditions," said Tata Steel executive director and chief financial officer Koushik Chatterjee.

“This reflected in the financial results of the company with Tata Steel India EBITDA at ₹ 5,118 crore, implying an EBITDA per tonne of ₹ 17,252 and quarterly EBIDTA of Tata Steel Europe at ₹ 1,666 crore registering an EBITDA per tonne of ₹ 6,801. Our quarterly consolidated EBITDA grew 33% YoY and increased to ₹ 6,559 crore, with an EBITDA margin of 17%," he said.

On 18 May, Tata Steel had acquired Bhushan Steel Ltd under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. The process of consolidation of accounts is complete, said Tata Steel chief executive officer and managing director T.V. Narendran. The synergies between the two companies have started with extra slabs from the Bhushan Steel plant going into Tata Steel, while the former benefits from the coal procurement and product shipping lines within Tata Steel.

Tata Steel has also thrown its hat in the ring for the stressed assets of Bhushan Power and Steel, which will witness another round of bid revisions. “For us Kalinganagar is very important, Bhushan Steel integration is very important. But we can’t break our head over this (revision of bids). How many times will we go in the fire? The first time we were declared the highest bidder, then someone comes along and we have to go through these rounds," said Chatterjee.

“The process has changed, we haven’t changed our position. This is not a battlefield, it’s an acquisition. We will continue to grow but we will acquire at a cost that is fair," he said.

Regarding Tata Steel’s joint venture with Thyssenkrupp, Narendran said: “We are working on seeking all relevant approvals for our 50:50 JV with Thyssenkrupp for our European business and look forward to a strong and sustainable business."